An engine controller for a gas turbine engine is configured based on data received from one or more plugs mounted to the gas turbine engine. For instance, the one or more plugs may include an engine rating plug that provides data indicative of a thrust rating for the gas turbine engine. Alternatively or additionally, the one or more plugs may include a configuration plug that provides data indicative of one or more hardware variants of the gas turbine engine. In this manner, the engine controller may be configured to control operation of the gas turbine engine differently based on the data received from the one or more plugs. However, the one or more plugs add to the overall weight and cost of the gas turbine engine, which is generally undesirable.